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Your favorite light amp

#61
I really like my Ibanez promethean. I had some back issues and it was just what I needed; loud enough to fill a club that didn't have sound support for bass, small enough to carry with one hand, and comes with a direct out. Back when I lived in the east coast and gigged in NYC it was perfect for the oddball places that had no amps or tried to make me plug into a Marshall guitar combo.:rollno:
 
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#62
I've been nothing but thrilled with my TH500 and I've used it with dozens of different clubs' back line cabinets. It's a fantastic little head. Loud, too.

Honorable mention goes to my Carvin BX500, which is enormously loud for a 500W head. It has a cleaner, clearer overall sound than the Aggie, but the EQ is very flexible and, while some people reported some reliability issues with the early ones, mine has been absolutely bomb-proof. Add American-made and cheap to the list and the BX500 looks awfully good.

Also, if your issue is with the weight of tube heads, consider that you don't have to go class D to shed a ton. You could go with a plain ol' SS head and still come in at less than half the weight of an SVT. Why not one of Ampeg's SVT Pro series (I have a 3-Pro and love it) or something like an Eden WT-800 or a WT-500 at only 13 pounds? There's loads of nice SS heads out there without going class D.
 
#63
This. 27lbs including the rack. SVP preamp with 1500watt class D power amp. Love it.
IMG_20150311_153312_zpsqiswtwvd.gif
 
#65
basslayer said:
I really like my Ibanez promethean. I had some back issues and it was just what I needed; loud enough to fill a club that didn't have sound support for bass, small enough to carry with one hand, and comes with a direct out. Back when I lived in the east coast and gigged in NYC it was perfect for the oddball places that had no amps or tried to make me plug into a Marshall guitar combo.:rollno:
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Ditto on the Promethean.... I love mine .... Light weight ... Loud enough...run an Eden extension cab with it.
 
#66
Carvin BX700!

$450
700 watts at 2 ohms
Tube pre
3.25"x14"x9"
6lbs

I'm not sure what the tone is like but on paper it seems like a solid contender. I've got an inkling though that the TH500, Genzler and GK offerings may be a little more characterfull in the tone department but I haven't tried any lol!

My 22 yr old back is hauling my Acoustic 370 just fine!
 
#68
lakefx said:
Something didn't sound right about the size comparison here because my GK MBF500 is the same size as the MB800 and fits in my gig bag just fine. So I looked it up. The TH500 is listed as 10.75"x2.75"x8.5" and the GK MB800 is listed as 10.75"x1.75"x8.5" so they are pretty close to the same size and the GK is actually a little thinner.
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I was looking at the GK MB800 Fusion which is 12.25" wide (wider than TH500) 10.75" deep (more than 2" deeper than TH 500) and 1.75 (which, in fact, is thinner than the TH500). Now, I haven't seen them side by side in a store, they LOOK the same in terms of face layout, but I guess the regular MB800 is actually smaller? Could be, I don't know. I just know the Fusion MB800 is bigger than the TH500, perhaps not the reg'lar MB800. If your specs for the reg'lar are correct, then you are correct that they are the same size (just not the Fusion version).

I like the super portability of the Aguilar TH's, which is why I have the TH 350, which is just tiny, considerably smaller than the 500. I could slip that sucker in the pouch of my bass gig bag. There are not too many cases when the 500 would carry a gig that the 350 would not.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind having a GK Fusion MB800 Fusion. Super nice amp and I like the contour knob. It still would not fulfill the role the TH 350 does. As some have said, I think you'd see a lot bigger difference in tone and volume by having 2 112 cabs instead of one 112 cab, than in the difference between a TH 500 (or 350) and the GK head. You need speaker surface area. Final thought on big volume from small sources, the TH 350 has one speaker out instead of two; you daisy chain the 2 SL-112's which lowers impedance to 4ohms. Thus, by doubling up on 12" cabs I have not only doubled surface area using identical cabs which gives deeper bass response, I have added power and efficiency by the impedance change. It really works great together, TH 350 and 2 SL-112's. Did I mention Sl-12's are 25 pounds, lightest on the market? Sweet power and easy load.
 
#71
Obviously you know what I'm gonna say...7 Pro if you don't mind the extra few pounds and the need to rack it, PF800 if you're willing to take a slight hit on sound quality for an easier schlep.
 
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#72
Plutonium244 said:
I was looking at the GK MB800 Fusion which is 12.25" wide (wider than TH500) 10.75" deep (more than 2" deeper than TH 500) and 1.75 (which, in fact, is thinner than the TH500). Now, I haven't seen them side by side in a store, they LOOK the same in terms of face layout, but I guess the regular MB800 is actually smaller? Could be, I don't know. I just know the Fusion MB800 is bigger than the TH500, perhaps not the reg'lar MB800. If your specs for the reg'lar are correct, then you are correct that they are the same size (just not the Fusion version).

I like the super portability of the Aguilar TH's, which is why I have the TH 350, which is just tiny, considerably smaller than the 500. I could slip that sucker in the pouch of my bass gig bag. There are not too many cases when the 500 would carry a gig that the 350 would not.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind having a GK Fusion MB800 Fusion. Super nice amp and I like the contour knob. It still would not fulfill the role the TH 350 does. As some have said, I think you'd see a lot bigger difference in tone and volume by having 2 112 cabs instead of one 112 cab, than in the difference between a TH 500 (or 350) and the GK head. You need speaker surface area. Final thought on big volume from small sources, the TH 350 has one speaker out instead of two; you daisy chain the 2 SL-112's which lowers impedance to 4ohms. Thus, by doubling up on 12" cabs I have not only doubled surface area using identical cabs which gives deeper bass response, I have added power and efficiency by the impedance change. It really works great together, TH 350 and 2 SL-112's. Did I mention Sl-12's are 25 pounds, lightest on the market? Sweet power and easy load.
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Yeah, the tubes in the fusion series must take up more space.

This is a good example of different tonal goals. The contour knob is the only part of my MBF500 that I think is totally useless. The feature that sent me in the direction of the GK MBF500 instead of looking at a TH350 or TH500 is the 2 foot switchable channels. I can use one for a tube distortion and one for clean or one for BG and the other for EUB. It also helped that my amp happened to be in the TB classifieds at the time I was looking.
 
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#75
I've been using an Acoustic Image Focus 1 (Series II) for ~10 years now, and I have never been disappointed with it, so I suppose it's fair to say that's my favorite. Although I'd kill for a high-powered Walter Woods Electracoustic...
 
#77
So you like your SVT-CL...and probably you are used to it's tone control section...?

Bugera Veyron M has got exactly the same layout except an added compressor.
You'll immediately feel at home when you dial in your tone.
Yes, we know that it's 2000W are peak but it easily holds up with any 500-800W amp out there I know.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#78
Lindex said:
So you like your SVT-CL...and probably you are used to it's tone control section...?

Bugera Veyron M has got exactly the same layout except an added compressor.
You'll immediately feel at home when you dial in your tone.
Yes, we know that it's 2000W are peak but it easily holds up with any 500-800W amp out there I know.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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I cant find specs for this online, not even on the Bugera site. Any sources? Looks pretty sweet at $399 but it'd be nice to know the dimensions, actual RMS power handling and other tech data.
 
#79
Plutonium244 said:
I cant find specs for this online, not even on the Bugera site. Any sources? Looks pretty sweet at $399 but it'd be nice to know the dimensions, actual RMS power handling and other tech data.
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Size is 255 x 80 x 300 mm WxHxD, weight 3.0 Kg
They don't give the RMS value as they think it has no relevance in a typical bass application, all they give is 2000W peak.
From my experience I'd put it somewhere in the 500-800W range, but honestly I don't care too much.
It gets louder than I ever need and is able to push my 2x18" and my 8x10" to their (and my ear's) limits, so what else should I ask for?
 

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